Kabutops

The sunlight filtered through the warm ocean waters, causing the orange scales of the small fish to sparkle. There was a great school of them, swimming in unison to appear like a much larger fish. While it worked on most animals, there were also the Pokemon in the waters. They were much harder to fool and much harder to get away from.

Without warning, a blob of mud was hurled through the ocean water. The small orange fish all turned as one to avoid it. Then a sleek brown shape darted underneath them. It soon turned about, dashing right through the school and slashing through the water with deadly large scythes. Four of the small fish fell to the attack, while the others hurried to get away. But the Kabutops knew better than to pursue them and leave what he had gotten for others to steal. He pulled the four dead ones in and curled his spiny body up around them, so as deter any predators that might come after him.

After consuming all that he could, he left the empty husks behind and swam towards the beach. The sun was traveling in a low arc and the waters, while still warm, were cooling off. It was that time of year and the competition seemed like it would be rough this go around. Now that the sun was setting, he needed to go out there and prove his worth.

Times were still primitive and the Kabutops didn't think of much beyond surviving to the next day. Sometimes if he came across a gathering of Kabuto that were having difficulty, he would fight the one harassing them. That was normal, just making sure that his kind overall survived as well. But this was the time to attract a mate and he would have to think to some degree for that. Sure, one could win over some females just on strength. But the better ones tended to be more demanding, looking for a male with some cunning as well.

At some point in the distant generations, it had been decided, more or less, that it was best to prove this by finding some unusual item and showing that off. His kind lived underwater constantly, though, so finding a suitable item could take months. Then, some renegade male had tried going out onto land to find something. It was incredibly risky, as it was harder to function on land, much less identify potential threats and fight them. Now in his generation, getting an item from land was nearly a requirement for finding a mate.

The Kabutops listened to the waters warily. Would one of his competitors be around going onto the beach tonight? There weren't as many Kabutops as there were Kabuto, so he had managed to claim a good sized territory. But there were only so many places to go onto land from, and he would be going into a rival's waters to reach the beach.

There were many kinds of fish about him, some steering clear of him to avoid being killed. Pokemon were fewer, but they were definitely out there. But a Kabutops like him, he didn't sense his rival or any others. He kept up a quick pace, though, just in case.

As he got closer to the shore, the waters got shallower. Eventually, he was able to rest his legs on the sandy ocean bottom and raise his eyes above the salty water surface. The beach was only lit by a half moon, but he was used to seeing through the low light of the ocean. Nothing moved on the sands or in the skies. But he'd been surprised on such trips before, so he spent a few minutes watching and waiting.

It still seemed quiet, so he took a deep breath, taking as much water into his gills as he could manage. Then the Kabutops left the waters and went onto the beach. Without the water to support his body, it required scuttling low across the sands like he used to do before he evolved. It was undignified, but he didn't really care. He had to find something that would work.

A strange almost sweet smell reached his nostrils. It seemed like some kind of food. Curious, he followed the scent to a bush that bore bright red and orange berries. They were strange and shriveled, like nothing he would find underwater. The Kabutops decided to sample one and stuck a mouth tendril onto the berry to taste it.

Immediately, a hot burning sensation hit his taste buds. No, this berry was way too spicy! The Kabutops sputtered, then decided to bolt back to the water and rinse his tendril out. Only, that didn't work as he had hoped; it just spread the spicy burn further around. It was almost painful and he spent a lot of time rushing about, trying to find something to cool his tongue.

After catching another fish and eating it, the stinging sensation was soothed enough for him to calm down. Those spicy berries would not be suitable for a gift. He did have to find something, but that incident had worn him down more than he had planned for. Resting for a while, he observed the beach. Once he felt up to it, he inhaled more water and returned to his search.

But there wasn't much. There were discarded shells, but those could be found underwater. There were small rocks, but nothing really seemed outstanding. Away from the beach sands, there were more berry bushes. But after the last incident, he didn't want to try any more land foods.

In time, the water in his gills had gone stale and he had to return to the ocean to release it, then gather more. He gathered more for a third trip, but still found nothing. He did see his rival Kabutops scuttling across the beach while he had been investigating under the bushes. As they couldn't sense as well up here, he stayed under the bushes and observed the rival. He had something that looked worthy, some kind of glossy blue stone. However, his shell seemed quite dry. Wherever he had gotten the stone from, it was some distance from the ocean.

He didn't know if he'd want to risk following that path for another blue stone, if there were any more. But it wouldn't look good to come up with something less worthy than his neighbor. This was the time for thought, though. Perhaps something could be done about this without risking staying out on land. He took something, then returned back to the ocean waters.

Not long after he returned, the rival Kabutops was headed right for him calling out a battle challenge for the invasion. He stopped in the water and pulled his scythes close to his chest in a submissive posture. He called back in apology, that he would be gone soon. However, the rival wouldn't accept that excuse at this time. He appeared in the water slashing his scythes at nothing. It was a sign that he would rip the intruder apart. After staying submissive, he held out one of his scythe arms and released a peace offering. The spicy wrinkled orange berry.

This caused the rival pause, showing his pretty blue stone better. On considering it, he smirked, then swam forward slowly, mockingly swiping a scythe just an inch from the intruder's face as he snatched up the berry. And instead of tasting it gently to drain, the rival consumed the berry whole.

Within a second, the rival's eyes had gone wide. He tried to spit the berry out, but that was difficult for them to do. He shook his face trying to relieve the burning spice; again, that did not work. Now the one smirking, the rival snatched the blue stone away, then bolted through the water as fast as he could.

Back in his territory, the Kabutops took a closer look at the blue stone. It was oval in shape and had a strange black mark on it. That looked like the Unown that sometimes roamed the beaches; he had seen a few over his lifetime. Now this was a worthy item to give as a mating gift. He went to a sheltered cave to rest, placing the blue stone under him in case his rival appeared. Tomorrow, he would head deeper into the oceans where the female Kabutops generally stayed. This would be a good year.

…

R/S entry: Kabutops swam underwater to hunt for its prey, in ancient times. The Pokemon was apparently evolving from being a water-dweller to living on land as evident from the beginnings of change in its gills and legs.